Trade war, day 181: Lighthizer may push for more tariffs

There is not much news in the U.S.-China trade war since last Friday, when we highlighted for Access members (paywall) that Foxconn may be moving a large amount of iPhone production to India and Vietnam. But two insightful pieces on Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative leading negotiations, have been published and are worth a read.

“Lighthizer remains deeply skeptical of Beijing and has warned Mr. Trump that the United States may need to exert more pressure through additional tariffs in order to win true concessions,” the New York Times reports (porous paywall).

“Lighthizer wants to limit China’s influence, even if he has to break the American-made economic order to do it,” the Atlantic says in an in-depth profile of his contrarian trade law career stretching back to the 1980s.

Both pieces indicate that Lighthizer is enjoying immense influence in the Trump administration at the moment. “Lighthizer is still riding a NAFTA high within the administration,” the Atlantic writes, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement, recently renegotiated as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, though not yet approved by the U.S. Congress. The Times adds that Lighthizer has a waterfront condo in Palm Beach, Florida, very near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, so he accompanies the president on his frequent wintertime golfing retreats.

Another piece of significant U.S.-China news also comes from the New York Times:

All of the “more than 20” American cultural centers established at Chinese universities in the past decade are now closed, after interference by Chinese authorities, the Times reports (porous paywall).

“From January 2016 to April 2017, there were 153 instances of Chinese thwarting the work of the American public affairs officials, including with the centers,” according to a State Department inspector general report. Former ambassador Max Baucus and current ambassador Terry Branstad were both denied access to American cultural centers at Chinese universities.

More links related to U.S.-China relations, including the detentions of Canadians and indicators in the Chinese economy:

Canadian detainees and reactionsStephen Dziedzic on Twitter: “A host of Australian scholars…say the Aust Govt should break its silence and call for China to release Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig”Rory Medcalf on Twitter: “I intended to avoid twitter til 2019, but China’s blatant hostage-taking and the Australian Government’s awkward silence cannot be ignored. I join many other Australian scholars in calling for our government to show solidarity with Canada and speak out.”Activity on social media of Canadian detained in China raises questions / Reuters
“Michael Spavor was shown as being ‘active’ on Viber, an instant messaging app blocked in China, as recently as early on Wednesday, a screenshot of his online status viewed by Reuters showed.”Why China is first class for SA teachers, warts and all / Times LIVE
“South Africans are still queueing up to teach English in China despite several incidents of teachers being detained and deported for visa-related violations.”

U.S. military all about “China, China, China”Remember – ‘China, China, China,’ new acting US defence secretary says / Reuters
“Acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan told civilian leaders of the U.S. military on Wednesday to focus on ‘China, China, China,’ even as America fights militants in Syria and Afghanistan, a U.S. defence official said.”

Lucas Niewenhuis is an associate editor at SupChina who helps curate daily news and produce the company's newsletter, app, and website content. Previously, Lucas researched China-Africa relations at the Social Science Research Council and interned at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He has studied Chinese language and culture in Shanghai and Beijing, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

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